LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation president retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar has written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other stakeholders showing great concern over the decision of the Pakistan Sports Board to de-notify three top officials of the PHF, including him, for not holding elections which were due on May 14.

The PSB took the step on Thursday, the last working day in the government’s offices as well as the courts before the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

“I have sent a letter to the Prime Minister and a copy of it to other stakeholders,” Khokhar told Dawn on Friday, refusing to divulge the details of it.

But he said that the PHF was unable to take legal action against the PSB’s decision as the courts are on holidays so it was decided to bring the “situation to the notice of the Prime Minister, who is also the PHF patron-in-chief”.

PSB director general retired Col Asif Zaman, meanwhile, told Dawn that the decision to de-notify PHF officials was taken to ensure the implementation of the constitution.

“Although a letter was written to all the national sports federations to refrain from holding elections until the implementation of the revised National Sports Policy, another one was written in which all federations which were free from controversies like parallel bodies were allowed to hold elections,” he said.

In October last year, the PSB issued a letter signed by its Director Training Raja Zulfiqar Akhtar which directed the federations not to hold their elections until the revised national sports policy — which sees PSB get control over the election process via the appointment of an Election Commissioner who will also deal with appeals against any irregularities — is implemented.

However, another letter on June 10 withdrew that order, asking federations to conduct their elections as per the constitution.

It also added that those federations which have parallel bodies or internal disputes should settle their issues otherwise the elections will not accord legitimacy.

The PSB is a major donor for the PHF for the last several decades, providing funding for the national team’s training camps and tours.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2022